The True Meaning of Sacrifice
by VyeLoyomBrightwarrior
Summary: Bae is willing to die to tell Emma about the witch. However, Rumpelstiltskin can't let that happen. So, he changes places with his son.
1. Back to the Vault

**This is an idea that just came to me, and I just had to write it. Reviews are greatly appreciated, even if all you say is good job of bad job. I hope you like it.**

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Bae had forced them apart, and now he lay dying on the ground. All that just to warn Emma. Rumpelstiltskin can't let him die, he just can't. Everything he had ever done had been for Bae and he can't bear the thought of losing him. He bends over his boy and begins muttering the spell he had learned long ago. He knows it will mean going back there, but he also knows that if he doesn't do this Bae will go there. He can't bear that thought.

"What are you doing?" Emma questions him. She obviously heard him mutter his and Bae's names as he does the spell. If she was as good a wizard as he thought she was, she might even feel the power of this spell. He doesn't answer her though. He just completes the spell. Pain shoots through him, especially from his hand. He looks down to see the mark of the vault pressed into his hand like it once had for Bae.

"Papa!" Bae cries worriedly as he falls. They had now switched positions with Baelfire leaning over him. He sees his son wince slightly even as his magic tells him the price for this spell.

"I'm sorry, Bae," he says. He hadn't meant for Bae to get hurt like that when he had traded spots with him. This is now something Bae will have to live with for the rest of his life, but at least he will have a life. "I love you," he muttered.

"I love you, too," Bae says, tears streaming down his face as Emma watches on. He wants to reach up and wipe the tears from his son's eyes. He wants to tell him not to worry about him and to go on with his life. But it is too late, the darkness is already claiming him again. At least he has told his son he loves him. Those are pretty good last words, he thinks as the darkness takes him.

"Back so soon?" one of them asks. Rumpelstiltskin looks over at the man, trying to fight off the crippling fear that is running through him. "Good. We all missed our little toy." He feels someone touch the back of his neck, freezing him in place. They all start to surround him. He knows what's coming; what they are going to do. He only just stops himself from begging for mercy.

"Where's the person who let you out?" one of them questions, obviously curious.

"I traded spots with him," he informs them, knowing they would make him tell eventually anyways. "He didn't belong here; he was never a dark one."

"But you were," a dark one states. If he wasn't so terrified, he would probably think that the fact that there were several dark ones was humorous. "And yet, you refuse to be completely dark."

"We don't tolerate that," another one joins in. He knows what that means. They are going to start up again.

"Please," he begs, no longer able to stop himself. "Please don't." All that does is cause the others to laugh cruelly. He doesn't think it's fair that these people will spend all eternity punishing him for the good inside him. Not that he had ever expected any sort of afterlife to be pleasant for him. He is a creature of darkness, and he expected to be punished for it. But now he's being punished for not being dark enough, and it just doesn't seem right. Then again, nothing about his curse is right.

They start blasting him with darkness and he screams in agony. He knows he should have the power they do. He should be able to wield darkness against them. But his darkness won't respond, and he knows why. There is still good in him. The darkness won't listen to him until he is completely dark, devoid of even a flicker of light. And so he tries to push the light away, to snuff it out. He should be able to, it should be his choice. But somehow, he can't. He knows why. The only way to get rid of the light is to get rid of all his memories of the people who brought him light. He get can't bring himself to spend all eternity without even the memory of Belle and Bae. So instead, he will spend all eternity barely clinging to their memories as evil magic bombards him, trying to force him to give them up.

He sobs as the darkness cuts through him, causing him more pain than he's ever experienced. He wishes it would stop, but he knows he is the only one who can determine that. And unlike most of the fools he dealt with in life, he won't do anything to get what he wants. He knows it makes him weak, but no matter how hard he tries he just can't let Bae and Belle go. The darkness starts targeting his chest, or more specifically, his heart. When it bombards the tiny bit of light inside of him, it hurts so much he can't even scream. His whole body convulses, but he hardly notices. The darkness is pushing on the light, trying to destroy it. He wants it to, because once the light is gone, the pain will be gone too. No, wait. That's not right. Once the light is gone, the physical pain will cease, but it will be replaced by something much worse. He is already alone and unloved here in the vault, but if the light leaves so will his memories of once being loved. If the light leaves, he will have nothing. He had once said that without his son, he would truly be dust. That is what he is now, dust. But if the light leaves, he will be something worse; he will be nothing.

So he fights. Before, he had been trying to decide whether to keep the light or not. Now he knows he can't survive without it. Well, not survive exactly; he's already dead. He can't spend the rest of eternity without it. So now, instead of letting the darkness cut through him and surround the light, he fights back. He would fight back with the darkness itself, but he can't. It won't respond to him. So he uses what he has rarely ever used, what the darkness is most afraid of. He uses the light.

At first he thinks it's a mistake. The minute he starts trying to fight the pain intensifies. He didn't even think that was possible. The pain is paralyzing, and his body screams at him, telling him to just give in already. But the one thing he has always been is persistent. The man who spent three hundred years looking for his son is more than ready to spend all of eternity trying to keep memories of the boy. No, of the man. His brave Baelfire is all grown up now, and he is so proud of him. He would do anything for Bae, and somehow he knows his son would want him to fight back. His son has always wanted him to be good, and now he's trying. He's doing this for Bae. The darkness gives. It's very slight, so slight that he's not even sure if the others notice it. But it gives.

The other dark ones may not have noticed, but he can tell the darkness has. Even more pain comes over him, making him think he can't do this. He can't handle this pain. He has always been a coward, always searched for the easy way out. Giving in seems like the best idea he's ever had. That's when he sees her face. Belle has always been his strength. Here she is now, or at least, her memory is here. It's enough; it has to be. She would want this, too. She had always been able to see the good in him. She wouldn't want him to lose it. Thoughts of Belle and Bae swirl through his head and the darkness gives again. This time, the others can't help but notice. Now they are giving everything they have so they can destroy the light. He keeps fighting, thinking of all his friends, even the Charmings. This helps him push the darkness to the very edge of his being.

That's when his advances stopped. He can feel the smugness of the darkness, and he knows why it won't leave. He isn't letting it. He has lived so long with the darkness, with the power, that he can't bring himself to let it go. He fears that if he does, he will go back to being that cowardly spinner whom everyone picks on. But really, that doesn't matter. As long as he chooses light over darkness, he will be that here. They won't stop torturing him until he gives. Or, until he makes them stop. There are only two ways that he can spend the eternity without this crushing pain. He must either give up the light, or give up the darkness. He has already shown that he can't give up the light. Even as the dark one, one of the most evil creatures ever to live, he still managed to find light. So now, he must give up the darkness. Memories of Bae and Belle give him the extra incentive he needs, and he gives one last effort. Pain flares through his entire body before everything starts to go black. He isn't sure what happened. Did he win? Did the darkness consume him? Was the pain finally too much? Before he can find out, everything goes completely black.


	2. Regrets

**I am so sorry. I'm posting this much later than I originally intended. I got really busy with band camp and just didn't have time to post. But I finally got it done, so here's the chapter! I hope you enjoy!**

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He opens his eyes slowly, timidly. He's sure that the other dark ones will be looming over him, ready to continue causing him pain. He cringes when he sees the several men surrounding him. He ducks his head instinctively, trying to make himself as small a target as possible. Nothing happens. They don't even say anything. Curiosity gets the better of him and he looks up. He laughs aloud in relief when he sees the mirrors. He had been frightened by his own reflections.

He moves to his feet, wincing as he puts a little too much pressure on his right leg. A quick look around shows that he is in a room the holds only mirrors and a torch or two. There is no way in or out. He frowns as he recognizes this place. Not that he's ever been here. He just remembers the description of this place. This is where the victims of the sleeping curse end up. He is in the Netherworld; the world between life and death. But that should not be possible. Being in the dark one vault meant you had died, didn't it? Besides, the only way to get to the Netherworld is by being put under a sleeping curse. There is no way he could have gotten here from the dark one vault.

He looks around, trying to see if there might be a chip in the illusion. Because he is sure that's what this is. The others must be trying to get his hopes up; make him think he is safe from them. And right when he least expects it, they will jump out at him and continue their assault. Well, he is not going to let them catch him unaware. In fact, maybe he can use this to his advantage. He can lure them into thinking he has no clue what's going on, and when they attack him he will be ready. That way, he can catch them off guard, though he knows that will do little good. There are too many of them for him to stand a chance against him. But fighting back is better than doing nothing.

He casually walks over to one of the mirrors and peers at it closer, still trying to find a hole in the illusion. He is shocked by what he sees. "Don't break our deal!" Bae screams at him, the swirling green vortex waiting to suck him in.

"I have too," the dark one replies, letting go. Rumpelstiltskin steps back in horror, averting his gaze. That doesn't stop him from hearing his own frantic screams as he apologizes to the boy who is no longer there. That's when he remembers: people in the sleeping curse are forced to relive their greatest regrets. They are being really elaborate in this con. Or maybe they are trying to break him with his own memories. It makes sense to use the thing he's holding onto so tightly against him.

"What's happening?" he hears himself ask. He glances at the mirror it came from and then instantly wishes he hadn't. Because it's Belle and him, sitting by his spinning wheel.

"Kiss me again, it's working," she tells him excitedly. He moans and squeezes his eyes shut before clamping his hands over his ears. That doesn't seems to help. He manages to hear every word up to his line "No one, no one, could ever love me!" Then another memory replaces this. It's one of the deals where he kills someone. Memory after horrible memory replays before him, and soon he is huddled on the ground, sobbing. He vaguely wonders what this was like for Snow, Charming, and Henry. He gets the feeling that it wasn't quite as bad for them.

He's starting to have trouble. He tries to hold on to the good memories he had with Bae and Belle, but somehow him breaking his own leg to get back to Bae takes control. The tears roll down his cheeks. "Make it stop!" he cries. "Go back to torturing me! Anything but this!" he begs, still convinced that the other dark ones are behind all of this. And when the memories stop suddenly, he opens his eyes. His suspicions are confirmed when he sees the large group of people surrounding him. He curls up in a ball in a futile attempt to hide. He is aware that this is not very intimidating and that the others will give him no mercy, but he can't bring himself to uncurl. He waits for the assault to start, but he doesn't have to wait long. Soon a hand touches the back of his neck and he freezes in place, not even trembling like he was before. So he braces himself for the pain that will follow only a split second later.

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Bae sighs as he sits in front of the TV pretending to watch whatever show happens to be on at the moment. He has been sitting here for hours, hating the fact that he is useless now. He knows it's his own fault, but that doesn't stop him from thinking that it's unfair. He had wanted to help defeat the wicked witch, wanted to avenge his father's death, but he didn't get the chance. He is too weak to fight witches now. He's too weak to do anything other than pretend to watch television.

"I knew it," a voice startles him out of his thoughts. He turns to see Belle standing over him, holding the TV remote. He just stares at her. "You didn't even notice when I turned the TV off," she remarks. Startled, Bae looks over at the machine. Sure enough, it has been turned off. "It's been a week since everyone got their memories of the missing year back and the witch was defeated," Belle informs him as if he doesn't know. "It's time to stop hiding out and go back into the world."

"The world doesn't want to see me; not like this," he responds. He is startled when he sees anger flash in her eyes.

"I'm starting to think you care more about the price you had to pay than the fact that your father's gone," she states. He feels a wave of guilt. She's right; all he has done since the day his father died the second time is bemoan the price he has to pay. He hasn't spared a thought for how Belle must feel, having lost her true love. He realizes that there is a reason he hasn't thought on that though. He can't bear the fact that his dad is dead, so he's chosen to not think about it at all.

"I'm sorry, Belle," he manages to say quietly. He feels the couch move as she sits down next to him.

"Look, I am, too," she says, her voice softer now. "I know you really do miss him. It's just, I do too." And then she is crying, shaking beside him. He wraps his arm around her, silently cursing himself. Belle has been his comforter, his rock, ever since he lost his dad once and for all. She's taken care of him and she's been helping him learn to live with his new disability. But never once has he helped her. She has had to be the strong one, and now it's finally been too much for her.

After a while she stops crying. She shifts so she can look at him. "Maybe we can postpone going out into the world until tomorrow," she states. He nods his head in agreement.

"I'll go make some tea," he says, realizing it will help calm Belle down. Plus, he knows it's time to start doing things for Belle like she has done for him.

"It's alright," she says, moving to get up. "I can do it."

"I want to do this," he tells her, making her stop moving. They both know that this is the first thing Bae has done voluntarily since his dad's death. Belle nods, reminding him to call for her if he needs help. He agrees to that before he makes his way into the kitchen with his now ever-present limp. He gathers all the things he needs before leaning his father's cane on the counter so he can use both his hands. After all, he's not left-handed, and he's not used to making tea. He will need his dominant hand for this.

He's almost done with the tea when Belle comes into the kitchen, holding her cell phone. Someone must have called her. "It looks like we will have to venture out into the world today after all," she tells him. "Charming is coming to pick us up. Apparently, they need us at the hospital."

"Why would they need us?" he asks, confused. For one thing, there should be no evil wizard threatening the town. For another, people rarely call on Belle for help, despite the fact that she could help a great deal. And lastly, he won't be much help with anything because of his crippled right leg.

"They didn't say," Belle remarked. "But it sounds urgent." Bae doesn't want to leave the house. He doesn't want to see the pity looks people will give him, and he especially doesn't want Emma to see him like this. But he has just started trying to help Belle, so he can't let her go alone.

"When will he be here?" Bae questions. The fact that they are sending someone to pick them up makes him angry. He knows it's just because of his bad leg. That and the fact that Belle has never really learned to drive. Before Belle can respond, the doorbell rings.

"That was fast," Belle remarks as the two of them make their way to the door. Each step brings them closer to the world, and he starts to feel overwhelmed. He stops just three steps away from the door. Belle notices immediately. "It's okay," she tells him as she comes to stand right in front of him. "We can do this. Just a quick trip to do what's needed of us, and then we'll come right back here." He nods. That doesn't sound too bad.

"You guys in there!" Charming yells from outside. Instead of responding, Belle simply goes and opens the door. "Oh," Charming says, sounding slightly embarrassed.

"Hello David," Belle greets as Bae steps into place next to her. "Do you happen to know what is going on at the hospital?"

"No," he admits. "Snow just called me and told me to come get you guys, so I did."

"Well, thank you," Belle replies as the three of them starts heading over to David's car. The ride in David's cramped truck is both too long and too short. Bae is aware of the fact that David and Belle are talking to each other, but he doesn't listen to them. He just can't stop worrying about what Emma will think of him now that he has a bad leg. She probably likes Hook better than him now. After all, Hook can still fight and do things. He can't.

When they get to the hospital, they find a room full of people. Whale, Ruby, Regina, Snow, the baby, the dwarves, Hook, Henry, and Emma are all standing and looking at some patient in the bed that Bae can't see from this position. "Finally," Regina says when she sees them. "It's about time you got here."

"What's going on?" Belle asks as she shifts around, trying to catch a glimpse of who is on the bed. It seems to Bae that everyone is already here. Who could possibly be lying on the bed? Then it hits him; it must be Belle's father. Why else would they call them here?"

"He's under a sleeping curse," Emma remarks. Ah, so they wanted Belle to wake up her father. But wait, how had Moe gotten a sleeping curse?

"Who might this be?" Belle asks, still oblivious.

"Isn't it obvious?" Regina questions. Belle has a look that says she still has no idea what Regina is talking about. Bae sighs, already bored. He half wishes he hadn't decided to come, but he's glad he's here for Belle. "It's Rumpelstiltskin." Bae freezes. His dad died. No one comes back from death. This isn't possible.

Belle doesn't seem to have those thoughts because she immediately pushes through to the front of the crowd. The crowd parts for him as he follows Belle. "Rumple," she gasps, and just a second later, Bae can see the patient. It is his dad. He is shocked, and then, for the first time since the day his papa died, he is happy.

"So, time for True Love's kiss, right?" Henry questions. Bae finds himself smiling over at Belle, his papa's true love. But oddly enough, she is looking at him.

"Let's do it together," she suggests. And suddenly, Bae can't imagine it any other way. The each go on opposite sides of the bed. Then, the simultaneously lean down and kiss Rumpelstiltskin's cheeks. The greatest sensation Bae has ever felt spreads through his whole body. He and Belle pull back and watch as his papa open's his eyes. Bae can sense something is wrong just a split second before his papa is curled up into a ball, shaking in fear. Belle instinctively reaches over and touches Rumpelstiltskin on the back of his neck. He tenses instantly, going completely rigid. He isn't even shaking anymore, that's how frightened he is. 'Oh Papa,' Bae thinks, 'what did that wicked witch do to you?'

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**The idea for the Dark One Vault being connected to the Netherworld came from ZizhunWriter. ZizhunWriter graciously allowed me to use that idea for this story.**


	3. Realizations

**Sorry for the late update. Life has kept me really busy. After my finales are over I can hopefully post more often. Hope you enjoy and again, sorry for being late.**

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It's only a second after the touch that he realizes that he is still able to move. He is only frozen by fear, not magic. He waits for the maniacal laughter he is sure will come. They are obviously toying with him. He registers the fact that the hand is no longer touching him, but he doesn't know when that happened. Not that it really matters. He just isn't proud of the fact that he's so scared he doesn't even know what's going on around him.

"Papa?" the voice questions worriedly. No, it can't be. He is dead. Bae is alive. There is no way that this is Bae. Even though he knows that, he can't stop himself from looking up. Bae and Belle are on either side of him giving him concerned looks. When he looks at everyone else he realizes that the whole of Storybrooke has crammed into the room he's in, or so it appears. Suddenly, he knows where this is going. He's had nightmares like this far too often, and it would be just like the other dark ones to use this against him.

"I'm not going to give in, okay!" he yells. The dark ones disguised as people he knows jump back, pretending to be startled. Or maybe he really did startle them; he can't tell. "I can't give in," he states. "Even if I wanted to, which most of me does, I just can't."

"No one's asking you to do anything Rumple," the fake Belle tells him. Oh how he wishes this is real. If he can be with Bae and Belle again, even for an hour… but no. He is dead. He did it for them, so they could be safe and go on to led the extraordinary lives he knows they'll have. He doesn't even need his foresight to know that. Bae and Belle will have great lives and all he'll have is memories of them. And it makes him mad that the dark ones are trying to take that away.

"How long are you going to keep this up?" he asks, the anger evident in his voice. "You're going to do this until I believe you, aren't you? And then, right when I do believe this is real, you'll all turn against me, one by one. I know my nightmares better than anyone, and if you wanted to trick me, you should have used something else." They are all staring at him, taken aback. Or at the very least, pretending to be taken aback.

"Oh Papa, what did she do to you?" the fake Bae asks. That confuses him.

"She? Who are you talking about?" he questions. The fake Bae looks very flustered. He turns to the fake Belle and then looks at some of the other people like the fake Emma, Snow, Charming, and Regina.

"I'm talking about the Wicked Witch," fake Bae says. Ah yes, Zelena. He hadn't expected the dark ones to bring her up. They are going to very elaborate lengths with this.

"Why can't you just get back to hurting me already? Why do you have to try to ruin their memory? Because I can tell you right now, it's not going to work. You can play these mind games all you want, but I can't forget about Bae and Belle! I already tried, earlier. But I just can't let go." Tears are spilling down his cheeks and he's no longer looking at anyone. He's looking down at his knees. He feels ashamed that he tried to get rid of the only thing he has. He knows Bae and Bell would probably be mad at him for it too, if they knew. That was the only thing about his situation he was happy about; they would never know how he wanted to betray them. "I need them more than I need to not be tortured for the rest of eternity. Because the truth is, not having memories of Belle and Bae would be worse than you torturing me. So go ahead, do your worst. Because no matter what you do to me, it can't be worse that forgetting the two people who actually cared about me."

"Oh Rumple," fake Belle says soothingly. She has gotten closer and he can tell that she is about to tough him. That's what the real Belle would do to comfort him. But this isn't the real Belle and he does not want the dark ones touching him again. So he moves away, flinching to the side to avoid fake Belle. It works; fake Belle doesn't touch him. Real Belle probably wouldn't either if he flinched away like that. Now there is a long pause and he realizes that the people in the room are silently communicating with each other, trying to figure out what to do.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" fake Regina asks, confirming his suspicions. "If anything we should be looking at Belle because if anything can make him believe this is real, true love's kiss can." This is probably the worst thing they have ever decided to do to him. He does not want to kiss fake Belle. That would just be wrong.

"But Rumpelstiltskin won't even let Belle near him," fake Emma's voice hits his ears. "I doubt he'll let her kiss him." Real Emma always had been observant and smart. But if the dark ones want him to kiss fake Belle, why are they arguing over it? Perhaps they want to make it seem more realistic. That makes sense. After all, the citizens of Storybrooke can never get anything done without arguing first.

"I won't believe even if Belle kisses me and its true love's kiss," he jumps in as he looks up. They all have a completely shocked look on their faces and he can almost hear the unspoken 'Why not?' "I've had true love's kiss with Belle before, and I've already seen that you can make me relive my memories. You can't trick me." He isn't going to let the dark ones hurt him if he can help it. He refuses to go along with their sick games. He can't let them ruin his memories of Belle and Bae.

"What if Belle and I kiss you together?" fake Bae asks. Fake Belle gets a look that clearly says she thinks it will work. But he does not like this idea. He doesn't even want one dark one to kiss him, none the less two. He's about to reply, to tell them that he wants no part in their stupid game. But then, a sliver of hope worms its way into him. What if all this really is real? What if he really had been in the Netherworld and then been brought out by true love's kiss? He was just deciding that having hope is foolish and he should tell them to leave him alone when it happens. Fake Bae and fake Belle lean forward at exactly the same time. They must have been silently communicating this. He starts to pull away, but he is too slow. Fake Bae grabs his shoulder and hold him still as the copies of the two people he loves the most lean forward and kiss him on his cheeks.

It's the most amazing feeling he's ever experienced. It feels just like when he kisses Belle, but so much more powerful. Pure love courses through his entire body and he realizes that he is alive. The dark ones could never create something so good. Bae and Belle start to pull away fairly quickly. After all, he had been an unwilling participant. He reaches around both of them before they can move away and pulls them into a hug. They're standing and he's sitting on the hospital bed so the hug is pretty awkward, but it's still a hug. And then the two of them shift into better positions and hug him back. Tears of joy and relief start falling. He is alive and back with the two people he's proved he loves more than life itself. For the first time in he doesn't know how long, everything seems right.

"So, who exactly tortured you like that?" Emma interrupts. Of course she would. She always seems to be in sheriff mode, trying to figure out what's going on. Though, to be fair, this town certainly needs someone like that. He just wishes she would have better timing.

"Seriously Emma?" Bae asks. "He obviously just went through hell and you want to interrogate him now?" Bae seems pretty angry, but Rumple can tell that he is just being extremely over protective. It shocks him because Bae has never really been like that with him before. It's usually the other way around. But it does make sense. Bae has lost his father far too many times, and he had probably been convinced that this time was for good. It's only natural for him to want to protect him now.

"It's alright," he tells Bae, placing a hand on his son's shoulder to calm him down before turning towards Emma. "You shouldn't worry about that, Sheriff Swan," he tells her, trying his best to sound like his old self. He doubts it's working, given the display he just put on. But he doesn't want anyone to see him as weak and this is the only thing he can think of to do. "The people that hurt me can't get anywhere near the rest of you." Or so he thinks. He's pretty sure he escaped the vault by fighting against the darkness. Really there is probably no way of knowing if the others could get out or not. However, he really does not want to talk about them right now.

"Okay, but we still want to know what happened," Snow White informs him. He gets that they're curious. If Regina had been in his place, he'd be interrogating her until he got the answers he wanted. However, this is not what he needs right now. He really just wants everyone to go home and leave him alone.

"Can't this wait a day or two?" Belle asks, sounding annoyed.

"It would be wise to let him recover first," Archie agrees. He hopes that since the psychiatrist is suggesting it, the others will agree. But of course, no one seems to mind him at all.

"Even though he thinks otherwise, the people who did this to him could be a threat to us," Regina is saying. "If they could reduce the Dark One to this," she says, waving a hand in his direction, "then I think we call all agree that we have something to worry about." Belle and Bae look like they're about to argue, but Emma interrupts.

"Look Gold," she says as she steps closer to him. "I…" she pauses, frowning at him. He looks back at her, confused. In fact, everyone in the room is rather stunned. "Regina, come here," Emma says, making him realize that she must be sensing something magical about him. He frowns as Regina steps closer, trying to figure this out. "Doesn't he seem off?" Emma questions Regina.

"Of course he seems off!" Bae explodes. "He's been tortured!"

Regina's eyes are widening. "No, she means that his magic is off," Regina informs everyone. "But I'm not really sure what is off. It just doesn't feel like it used to." He has been digging deep, reflecting on what it could be. And then it hits him, and shock goes through him. He had considered this as a possibility before, but now that it has really happened, he can't quite accept it.

"His curse is broken!" Henry exclaims delightedly. Only Henry would jump to that conclusion. Almost everyone else in the room rejects that idea immediately.

"Kissing his true love didn't even break his curse," Regina informs he son. "I don't think torture could really have done it." Belle is the only one staring at him, considering the possibility Henry suggested. Even Bae is watching the conversation between Henry and Regina, looking like he agrees with the former Evil Queen.

"He could have broken his own curse," the truest believer argues back. Almost everyone scoffs at that, and everyone gets distracted in trying to explain how one could not simply break a curse they were under. He is well aware that most of the people there believe that is especially true in his case.

"Rumple," Belle says quietly, gaining his attention but not anyone else's. That is good. He doesn't know if he can say this with the whole town watching. It is just so odd for him. "Did your curse break?" she asks the question. He knows the answer, but he's not really sure how he feels about it.

"Yes," he answers softly. In fact, it barely classifies as a murmur, but Belle obviously hears him because her face breaks out into a huge grin. That is until she sees the look of confusion on his face. She pulls him closer to her, wrapping him in a comforting embrace.

"I know you don't know how to take this," she whispers to him, "but it will be alright. We'll get through this together." She doesn't tell him it's a change for the better or that he should be happy. She accepts his confusion and promises to help him through it. He finds himself once again in awe of the woman who continues to be far too good to him.

"Just because you want something to be true…" Emma is telling Henry. He looks over to see the boy looking extremely irritated that no one is listening to him. He wants to help, but he really doesn't want to see the town's reaction to the news. He isn't even sure if he wants anyone to know, but he knows it's only a matter of time until they figure out. Still, he doesn't want to see them when they do find out. In fact, he wishes most of them would leave right now.

"Didn't it occur to any of you to ask me about my magic?" he asks in his I-know-more-than-any-of-you-idiots voice. Everyone turns in his direction. "Because if you really want to know, I'll make you a deal. Leave my room and don't came back in. I'll tell Belle what changed my magic, and she will come out and tell all of you." He really hopes they take this deal. He is sick of people.

"Only if you tell us everything that happened to you," Regina argues. He is really tempted to get up out of bed and punch Regina for her stubbornness. But before he can decide if it's worth it, Bae is stepping forward.

"Can't you all tell he needs rest!" he yells angrily, startling everyone. "He has graciously offered you a deal to get you all to leave, which he shouldn't even have to do in the first place! And now you want to get more out of him! I won't allow it! You can either take his deal, or I'll force you out of the room myself!"

"I think the deal sounds good," Snow says, obviously trying to keep the peace as she always does. Regina looks like she wants to attack Baelfire, and Emma seems determined to figure this out. However, almost everyone else seems ready to take the deal.

"But you will tell us what happened eventually?" Emma questions. He realizes that he will have to tell someone at some point, so he nods. Besides, if it gets everyone to leave him alone, he can do it. "Alright then," Emma says as she turns to the rest of the room. "Let's go." Then she's walking out the door, not even looking back to see if everyone is following her. But of course, they all do. Even Regina goes, though she seems hesitant and has a reluctant look on her face. Then, finally, he is alone with Bae and Belle. He sighs, leaning back against his true love who is still holding him.

"You alright?" Bae questions, worry written all over his face. Rumple gives him a smile.

"I am now," he replies. Bae and Belle both grin widely at that. Bae comes and sits on the bed next to him, wrapping his arms around both him and Belle.

"I missed you so much Papa," he says.

"I missed you too," he confesses, feeling completely safe for the first time in a long time as he snuggles into his huggers. Finally, everything is right. He knows Belle with have to leave soon, to tell the crowd his secret. He also knows that he'll have to tell Bae, and he's not really sure how his son will react to him not being sure what to think of it. But for right now, he can have this moment. Yes, he can have this one glorious moment of peace.


	4. The Cane

**Sorry about the time between updates. Latin is time consuming and I get way too many ideas swirling around in my head. It makes it hard to concentrate. Anyways, thanks to everyone who reads. I hope you're enjoying the story. Or well, maybe not _enjoying _per say since it's a rather sad story, but i hope you're getting something out of it.  
**

* * *

They've been huddled in their little group for ten minutes now, and Bae wants nothing more than to stay this way for all of eternity. However, the heroes of this town tend to be impatient. So, he regretfully has to get things moving along before someone tries to come back in to get the answers. "Papa?" he questions softly. His dad moves slightly in response, snuggling even closer to him, though he hadn't thought that was possible. "Papa, I fear they'll all come barging in here if you don't send Belle out there soon," he states. His father pulls back, moving so he's sitting up on his own.

"You're right," he agrees, looking down at his lap. It hurts to see his father this timid and unsure. It's worse than it had been all those years ago when his papa was the bullied spinner. Bae wishes he could just make all his father's pain go away. Hadn't they both suffered enough in the past three centuries for fate to leave them alone?

"It's okay Rumple," Belle prompts, holding his hand in her own. "He will understand." This causes Bae to pause. Does Belle already know about this? Well, he supposes that there was quite an uproar when Henry stated his theory. Everyone had been paying attention to the boy and, he remembers regretfully, had ignored the man they were talking about. He must have told Belle during that time.

"You can tell me anything Papa," Bae states. His dad looks up at him as though to judge whether or not he's telling the truth. It hurts a little that his dad doesn't trust him, but he gets it. The man has been through so much recently; he's allowed to have some doubts.

Rumpelstiltskin looks back down, his hair obscuring his face. Right when Bae's about to give up on his father bringing him into the loop, he hears a soft, "It's broken." Bae frowns for a minute, looking over at Belle. She's not giving anything away.

"What's broken," he prods gently. Henry's theory surfaces in his mind, and even though a part of him still thinks it's crazy, he asks, "Is your curse broken?" A slight nod is all the answer he needs. "That's great!" he says happily, feeling overjoyed. "I can't believe it. You broke your curse. This is what I've always wanted!" His dad doesn't as much as move. Bae is fairly certain that the man isn't even breathing. He looks to Belle, confused. She giving him a look that clearly says he's done something wrong, but he can't figure out what that might be.

"So, is that all you want me to tell them?" Belle finally breaks the awkward silence. Bae stares at her, silently pleading her to fill him in on what he's done wrong. He doesn't get it; he was being supportive and expressing his joy at his papa's accomplishment. How could that be bad?

"I still have foresight," Rumple tells Belle. He's still being super quiet and timid.

"Okay," Belle says. "Do you want me to go tell them now, or wait for a little bit longer?"

There is a long pause where Rumpelstiltskin is most likely trying to decide what to tell Belle. "Go now," he says. She gives him a smile, which he can't see because he's still looking down. Belle slides off the bed, giving her true love's hand a slight squeeze. But before she can let go, Rumple is squeezing back, preventing her from leaving. He looks up at her, and Bae can imagine the pleading look in the deep brown eyes that are turned away from him. "Come back soon?"

"As soon as possible," Belle promises him before she starts walking toward the door. Rumple doesn't even watch her leave; he just ducks his head down again. Bae gives Belle a look as she leaves, desperate to know what he did wrong. She gives him an encouraging smile right before she closes the door as if she thinks that will help. He sighs before turning his attention back to his father. He racks his brain for a minute, trying to figure out what he did and what he can say to fix it. Eventually, he realizes that there is really only one thing he can say.

"What did I do?" he asks. His papa looks up at him.

"Nothing," his dad tells him. But Bae's no fool. His papa has the look he always got whenever his was concerned for his son. Bae knows it even better now that he has a son of his own, but he's not going to let his dad get away with not telling him things, even if it is just to spare his feelings.

"I know I did something," Bae says. This makes his father look down again. He looks like some chastised kid. No; he looks more like an abused animal. It threatens to split Bae's heart in two. "I want to know what I did so we can talk through it," he informs his dad.

There is another long silence. If his dad is going to do this all the time, Bae's going to get annoyed. "It's just…" he starts to say after a minute. Then he pauses again. Bae figures it's best to let his dad say what he's going to say in his own time instead of prodding him. "I just… I don't know," he says with a sense of finality to the statement that makes Bae realize that he's going to have to do some prodding.

"You don't know what?" he asks, doing his best to sound gentle instead of annoyed.

"I don't know how to deal with this," comes the response. The minute it comes, Bae feels like an idiot. Of course his papa wouldn't know what do after a curse he'd lived under for centuries finally broke. No duh his dad would have mixed feelings about a curse that made him want to commit horrible acts but also gave him the power to save his son. Bae should have known.

"I'm so sorry," he apologizes, and it's finally his turn to look down. His papa has been threw who knows what and here he is making him feel worse. Making him feel guilty for not sharing in Bae's excitement over the broken curse. He's completely startled when he's suddenly pulled up against the other man's chest. It's like how it used to be when Bae was a child; he's distressed and his papa is comforting him.

"It's okay Bae," he says as he rocks his son. Bae hadn't even realized he was crying until this moment. He feels terrible. After everything that happened he should be the one comforting his dad, not the other way around. But then again, maybe this is good for both of them. His dad probably likes holding him in his arms; likes comforting him. So he lets his dad rock him back and forth, whispering words of comfort to him as he sobs away all the guilt for causing his dad pain, the sorrow of losing his dad, the nagging pessimistic thought that keep telling him this is all just a dream, and a billion more emotions he doesn't care to try to identify. But there is one reason for his crying that he doesn't sob away. It's relief. He's finally back together with his dad, and this time, he's going to make sure that nothing can tear them apart.

* * *

He's been comforting his son for a few minutes when Belle finally comes back in. She looks slightly shocked to see them like this. He doesn't blame her; if anything this situation should be in reverse with Bae comforting him. But he's glad it's not. This is something he used to do all the time, and holding his son gives him a feeling that everything is normal. Everything is the way it is supposed to be; the way it was before his dark curse intervened.

Bae notices Belle too and pulls away from his dad on instinct, whipping the tears from his eyes. "How'd it go?" he asks, trying his best to sound like he hadn't just been crying. Belle, being the wonderful person she is, graciously decides not to ask about what happened, though Rumple suspects she'll ask him later.

"It seemed to go okay," she says, "though I'm not sure if everyone believes it yet."

"As long as they don't pester us about it, it doesn't matter whether they believe it or not," Bae says. He agrees with his son. People have never really listened to him or believed him. They've only tried to use him to get what they want. He doesn't really care if that's changed or not; all he really wants his privacy. Which he really doesn't get much of in the hospital.

"Can we go home?" he asks. Belle and Bae think for a minute.

"There's really no reason that you have to stay in the hospital," Belle says at last. He knows why. He's not physically injured, just mentally. Going home would probably help him, and that's what they just thought through. He hates it, how weak he is now. He hates that his son and true love will have to take care of him and he knows he won't be able to give much back in return. But there is literally nothing he can do to change all that, so he just accepts it for now, but not before he vows to try and get better as soon as possible.

"Home sounds good to me," Bae states. "Let's borrow an extra cane from the hospital and we can be out of here." This causes him to remember the price Bae had had to pay. He hates the fact that his son now bears the mark of his father's cowardice. It isn't right.

"I'm sorry Bae," he states, unable to look at his son.

"For what?" Bae asks, sounding confused. "Saving my life? Because I'm very happy you did that, even if the price was getting a limp." But it's not just that. Bae doesn't know everything. He tries to find the words to tell his son, but they catch in his throat. How do you go about say something like that?

"Well, I'll go try to find a cane and someone to give us a ride home," Belle states. Rumple can tell that she thinks they need some time alone to talk about this. But that won't help at all when he doesn't know how to say what he's thinking. He moves his hand and sees the mark there, the mark of the vault. Maybe he can show his son.

He hears the door open. "Oh, hello," Belle says, sounding surprised. He had figured she was the one to open the door, so now he looks up to see who she bumped into. He's expecting Emma or Regina, but he sees Dr. Hopper instead. Great. The guy thinks he is so bad he needs therapy right of the bat.

"I'm not trying to intrude," the man says before Bae can start yelling at him. "I just thought you might need a ride home," he suggests.

"That would be perfect," Belle says, seeming relieved that she doesn't have to go find someone else to ask.

"I also have this," he says, holding up a battered looking simple metal cane. "The hospital didn't have anything else," he says apologetically.

"That will work fine," Bae says, moving forward to accept the cane. This is where he should speak up. He should tell them. He moves to stand as Bae grasps the hospital cane and almost falls over when his right leg threatens to give out underneath him. "Easy Papa," Bae says as he comes to his side, moving to hand him his cane. Images flood into his head unbidden. Images of him beating people with that cane. But more importantly, he remembers that, in a way, that cane represents his power. It's elegant, graceful, and easy associated with the ruthless pawnbroker of Storybrooke. It's something he doesn't want to be reminded of. So he shakes his head and motions for his son to hand him the other cane.

"Are you sure?" Bae asks, looking confused. He just nods back, and then he's holding the battered old hospital cane. It looks like it's trying to be just like him, but there is no way it can ever become as old or as battered as he is. They would throw it out before it gets the chance. So doesn't that mean they should throw him out too?

"Are you ready to go?" Belle's gentle question pulls him from his thoughts. He nods again, placing the cane on the ground and moving towards Belle and the door. He finds it ironic that the mark is on the hand he needs to hold onto his cane. The first injury signifies him trying to be with his son and the second testifies to him saving his son. It's fitting that they're on the same side of his body.

Soon they are in Archie's car. He doesn't really pay attention during the trip. He just sort of stares out the window as Belle chats with Archie up front. He looks at the town as they pass through. Nothing has really changed. He died and nothing changed. Nothing save Bae being maimed for life. Even the people didn't really change; they were more worried about getting information out of him than about what he had been through. Well, he supposed not everyone had done that. Bae and Belle had tried to get the others to let him rest, but he'd expected that from them. Archie had as well, but he is supposed to be a conscience. Henry might care too, but he was the boy's grandpa. As much as he loves his family and true love, he'd like to know that there was someone else out there who cares. But he doesn't deserve that. He doesn't even deserve to have Bae and Belle here, caring about him. But here they are anyways, and he still can't understand why.

Soon they are at the house and Archie has left. He finds himself sitting on his sofa and he isn't quite sure how he got there. He's really tired. Despite what people might think, being under a sleeping curse does little to help you rest. "Hey, let's get you upstairs," Belle suggests. "It looks like you need to sleep." He nods in agreement, letting her gently guide him up the stairs. He realizes that this must be how he got to the couch. Soon, he is sitting on the bed. Belle rummages through his dresser, trying to find his pajamas. Exhaustion overtakes him as he collapses back onto to bed, deciding Belle can help him sit up again in a minute. Only, he can't even manage to stay awake for a minute; as soon as his head hits the bed, he is fast asleep.

* * *

He opens his eyes, confused. He feels groggy and he isn't quite sure where he is. "Hello," a male voice says and he jumps, turning to see who it is. When he sees the dark one, fear takes over and he backs up. His returning memories cause confusion; he thought he had escaped the dark vault. Why is he here now? Had all that just been a deceivingly good dream that is now going to be spoiled by reality? It appears so.

"Please," he begs as the others approach. He can't bear the thought of going through more torture. They merely laugh.

"And so like returns to like," one says, confusing him. What are they talking about? "You didn't think you could escape us, did you?" Wait. So, all that hadn't been a dream. But then, why is he here now? And then it hits him. Those who have been in a sleeping curse always return to the Netherworld in their sleep. This is kind of like that, only he returns to the dark vault since he was a dark one.

"I… I did escape," he says, trying to sound confident but failing miserably. "I am free of the dark curse," he tells them. This just causes them to laugh.

"No, you will never be free of it," they tell him. "Don't you see? Only dark ones can come here. You are still one of us."

"No!" he states in denial and dread. "No; that can't be! The others! They knew something had changed!" he remembers, suddenly grateful for the noisiness of Emma and Regina.

"We made it so. After all, it will be easier for you to do evil if everyone thinks you are free of it."

"No…" he mutters, not wanting to believe. They had to be lying, they just had to.

"After all, we wouldn't want our line to end, now would we?" they question. "Naturally there are things put in place to keep the dark one linage going. It just took us some time to activate, and we decided to try and help make you more evil while we waited." He is shaking now, trembling all over. He had thought he was finally free. Now he knows that was a lie fabricated to make it so he could do more evil. He lets out a sob and falls to his knees. All those years he had thought he was the master mind; the manipulator. Now he knows the truth; he's been manipulated just as much as everyone else.

"Don't worry," someone says in a sickeningly sweet voice as the dark ones close in on him. One comes up right behind him and whispers right in his ear. "We'll make sure you kill your loved ones first," he says. Before he can respond the familiar dreaded pain floods into him and he is unable to do anything save scream in agony.


	5. Unwilling Villian

**Sorry it's been so long. I really am having some writers block. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I will keep posting I promise, just not as fast as I want to.**

* * *

Bae is sitting on the couch with Belle. They're both completely exhausted, emotionally and physically. Neither one of them had expected Rumpelstiltskin to come back, and while they are both overjoyed, that still takes a toll. As for the physical exhaustion, trying to change a grown man into his pajamas while he's sound asleep will do that to you. Bae's been sitting here quietly, thinking of how best to help his papa deal with what's happened to him. He has the feeling Belle's been having similar thoughts. He's just about to broach the topic with her, when a scream comes from upstairs. Belle is up and running immediately. Bae wishes he could say he is right behind her, but running up stairs with a bad leg isn't exactly easy. By the time he's half way up the stairs, Belle has flung open the bedroom door. He's just reached the top when the screaming stops. As he comes around the corner, he expects to see his dad lying dead on the floor and Belle kneeling next to him, silently weeping. No. No, it'll just be a bad dream. It has to be. He looks in, hoping to see Belle holding his dad on the bed, comforting him. But what he sees is neither what he expects nor what he hopes. What he sees is his papa sitting up in bed, choking his true love.

"Papa!" he yells in shock. Something in the man's eyes seems to change as he looks over at his son. Then he looks back at Belle and lets out a startled cry, pulling his hands away from her throat instantly. Belle drops to her knees, bringing her hands up to her neck, struggling to breathe. His papa has moved back onto the bed and pulled his legs up to his chest. He's rocking back and forth like a little kid, muttering apologies over and over. Needless to say, Bae's not really sure who he should help first. He decides on Belle though; as much as he wants to run and comfort his father, Belle has just been choked half to death. He has to make sure she'll be okay.

He kneels next to her, checking her over as her breathing slowly starts to go back to the way it usually is. She looks up at him. "I…" she stops, startled a little by the roughness of her voice. "I'm okay," she tells him. The quality of her voice does little to convince him of that, but calling the doctor can wait. His papa is hysterical right now and Bae decides calming him down should be at the top of his list of things to do. Belle gives him an encouraging wave towards his dad, letting him know that she wants him to help his papa. Bae nods and slowly stands, making his way to the bed.

"My fault, my fault, my fault," his dad chants, his apologies having been boiled down to that. He is still rocking back and forth, crying ceaselessly.

"It's okay Papa," Bae says soothingly. "Belle's going to be just fine." Now he's really glad he checked on Belle first, because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to comfort his dad as well.

"No she's not," his dad says, looking up at him from on the bed, finally stopping his chanting and shaking. "No one's going to be okay." Bae can see dread written all over the older man's face. He can't seriously believe he's going to do terrible things to everyone when he doesn't want to, can he?

"Look, it was just an accident," Bae tries to reason with him.

"No it wasn't!" his papa cries, starting up the rocking again. "My fault, my fault," he rekindles the chant. Bae looks over to Belle in confusion. He's not quite sure what to do or what to make of his father's statement.

"I'll call Archie," Belle rasps when she realizes that they're out of their depth with this situation.

"Not with that voice you won't," Bae argues back. After what just happened, he isn't even sure if Belle should be talking at all. "I'm going to call the hospital, and then I'll phone Archie," he informs her. She looks like she's about to protest, and he gets that. He wants help for his dad to get here as soon as possible, but it's important to make sure no permeant damage has been done to Belle. It would only emotionally scar his father all the more if he cased Belle lasting harm. "He'd want me to," Bae states and picks up the phone before she can argue. He just hopes he's making the right choice.

* * *

He can't stop chanting the truth. It's all utterly and completely his fault. The curse isn't even broken, and now it's controlling him. It's making him do things he never would have considered before and he hates it. He'd consider doing another sacrifice and killing himself so that he can't hurt the others, but it won't work. The other dark ones will just bring him back again. So instead he chants 'my fault', hoping to get them to see that they ought to be locking him away. Keep the immortal dark one in a prison no one can escape and never go down there ever again. He's immortal; he doesn't need food or water to survive. And if someone comes down, he would kill them.

Belle's only talked a few times, but it's been enough for him to tell how badly he hurt her. What if Bae hadn't come in and stopped him? He would have killed his true love. He doesn't deserve to be here, to be free. He's only going to end up destroying everything good and putting darkness where light used to be. It's his fault, all his fault. Several futures are lying ahead of him, but he can only read a few. Not that it matters; they all end up in the same place. Him destroying everything in town. The only one that doesn't end that way is the one where the town's people decide to lock him up. He's got to get them to do that before he kills anyone, and to do that he has to calm down and say more than 'my fault'. So he stops his chant, taking deep breaths instead, and preparing for this. "You okay Papa?" his precious boy asks. He can't understand why Bae still cares about him even though he almost murdered Belle.

"You have to lock me up," he commands, watching as Bae gets a shocked, confused, and worried look on his face. "Don't you see?" he questions, gesturing at Belle. "I'm dangerous."

"No," Belle croaks. "Accident."

"You don't get it!" he cries, desperate to make them see. "I only thought my curse was broken but it's not and I'm going to kill the whole town because of it if you don't stop me!" he yells in one big long breath.

"What?" Bae asks. "No, you could never do that. You just had a bad dream, alright?" he says. Trying to comfort him.

"No, it wasn't just a dream," he informs them. "They told me I was still a dark one." He mutters that last bit and tears threaten to start spilling again. He hates that he's going to hurt everyone because of his curse, but he can't change it. He hasn't ever had the chance to ever since he took the curse. He had thought maybe Belle could break it, but now he knows better. The dark ones would never let such a thing happen.

His son glances over a Belle in confusion, and if he was thinking clearly he'd know it is because his son doesn't know who he's talking about. "That was just a dream Papa," Bae comforts. But his son was just deluding himself; Rumpelstiltskin had always been and will always be a monster.

"No it isn't," he protests. He has to make them see. But from the looks on their faces he can tell they don't believe him. Fine. He'll just have to go to someone who will. He slips out of bed, grapping the battered hospital cane.

"Where are you going?" Bae asks as he starts limping towards the door. He realizes that telling them the truth will only make them try and stop him.

"I'm going for a walk. I need to be alone and clear my head," he states.

"In your pajamas?" Bae questions. He looks down and sees that he is indeed wearing his pajamas and doesn't even have shoes on.

"I'm just going in the backyard," he lies. However, it's good enough to pass muster and soon he's out the back door. He's fairly certain they only let him go because they were afraid to upset him anymore than he already is. Not that it matters; he has to get to Regina as fast as possible. If anyone will believe him about this, it's her.

* * *

"Thanks for coming," Bae tells Archie when he gets there. Whale has already arrived and is making sure Belle's okay as he speaks. "It's just, he's so convinced he's evil. Neither of us know how to get through to him."

"I'm always willing to help," Archie reassures him.

"Well, I'm not sure how receptive he'll be," Bae informs the psychiatrist. His dad has always been the stubborn sort. "But I appreciate that you're going to try."

"I've dealt with rough patients before," Archie states. "And I can't be sure yet because I haven't started treating him, but I think he'll mostly just need time to recover from whatever happened to him. It's obvious that he's been through a lot, and this is completely natural, especially if his tortures kept telling him he was evil."

"I hope he'll realize he's not," Bae says. Talking with Archie is actually making him feel better. Maybe he should consider getting some therapy sessions. But that could wait; right now they had to worry about his papa. "Anyways, he's in the backyard."

"Alright," Archie says before going to find Rumpelstiltskin. Bae starts to wonder who the they is father mentioned could be. Whoever they are, they certainly did a number on his papa. "He's not there," Archie informs him suddenly as he walks back into the house.

"Not there?" Bae asks. He can feel his blood pressure rising as anxiety kicks in. "Then where is he?" Archie doesn't seem to have an answer.

* * *

Regina is in her house doing paper work. Or well, trying to do paper work. Truth be told she's having trouble focusing because she's quite mad at her old mentor right now. Whoever did all this to him could be out there right now, plotting to take over Storybrooke. Their only hope could be learning more about these people and Rumpelstiltskin won't do it just because it makes him a little uncomfortable. Well, that's too bad because she's pretty sure that they'll all be uncomfortable if his former captors get their hands on the town.

Just then a knock sounds from the front door so she gets up to answer it. She's shocked when she does. Her old mentor is standing there in his pajamas. His hair is completely disheveled and he's not even wearing shoes. And she's pretty sure she's never seen that battered old cane he's using for some unknown reason. Regina looks past him, fully expecting to see Belle or Bae since she doubts the two of them would let him out of their sight after his death. Well, it appears she is wrong because the son and true love of Rumpelstiltskin are nowhere in sight.

"What are you doing here?" she questions. After the way he dismissed everyone in the hospital, she can't really think of a reason for this visit.

"You're the only one who might listen to me," he responds. She sees a desperate look in his eyes and starts to get curious. If Belle and Bae won't listen to him about this, what makes him think she will?

"So, what is it that I might believe?" she questions. He glances back out at the street and she realizes he wants this to be private. Or Belle and Bae don't know he came here and he doesn't want them too. Or both or neither. It can be really hard to tell with the former dark one. "Come in," she invites briskly and he follows orders. She shuts the door behind them and they are both standing in the entry way. Before she can ask if he'd like to go sit down somewhere, he speaks.

"You have to lock me up," he informs her.

"What?" she asks, completely taken aback. She never thought she'd live to see the day where her master was practically ordering her to imprison him. "Why?"

He looks down at the ground and appears to be mustering up the courage to answer her question. "I… I was wrong," he tells her. This is a first; him admitting he's wrong. "I thought my curse was broken, but it's not. It's going to make me do terrible things and I need you to lock me up before I start hurting people." She's in shock. Not because she thought he had broken his curse; when Belle had announced it she had known it was a lie. The dark one could never give up that much power. No, she's shocked that he thinks he can't control the curse; that he's scared of his own curse. It just doesn't make sense.

"Look, I'm pretty sure you can tell the curse what you will and won't do," she states. He has already started shaking his head.

"If that were the case, do you think I'd be here begging you to lock me up?" he questions, looking her straight in the eyes. Finally he's sounding a little more like his normal self.

"I think you're overreacting," she tells him. In all honesty, she doesn't want to lock him up. True they've had their differences, but in the end he's always been the only person who understands her. After all, it's not like all the heroes in this town could understand why anyone would do bad things.

"You won't listen either," he says, more to himself then to her. He's starting to look extremely panicked. "They must have made it so no one would believe me."

"What do you mean?" she questions, confused yet again. "Who are you talking about?"

"Them!" he shouts as if it should be self-explanatory. "And if you don't lock me up, I'll end up killing everyone in town because of them!"

"Why? Do they have your dagger?" He gets an exasperated look that she's all too familiar with, but before she can say anything else, her phone is ringing. "Give me a second," she says, walking father into the house to grab her cell phone from where she left it on the table. She sees its Emma and decides she better answer it. It could be about Henry. "Hello," she greets.

"Hey Regina," the sheriff responds. "I need your help. Gold's gone missing and I was wondering if you could locate him with magic."

"No need; he's at my house."

"What's he doing there?" Emma asks, sounding confused.

"He wants me to lock him up," she states looking over at him as she says it. Only, he's not there. "Actually Emma, we may have to do some searching after all."


	6. Safety Precautions

**Sorry that it's been so terribly long. I went on a trip to Italy where I couldn't write. Hopefully now that I'm back I can update more quickly. Sorry for the wait and I hope you are enjoying this!**

* * *

Henry is walking down the street, kicking a rock in boredom. He wishes that there was something he could do to help his recently returned grandpa, but it seems his dad and Belle have that covered. He still wishes he was useful. He wants to help someone somehow. When he hears the scream of pain, he dashes to the source. Okay, maybe he doesn't want to help someone; someone has to need help to be helped, and Henry doesn't want anyone to be in danger.

Henry finds himself flinging open the door to the flower shop. He is quite shocked to see his grandpa in his pajamas with bare feet, tangled hair, and a battered looking cane. He's even more shocked to see Moe French cowering in the corner of the shop, hands raised to fend off the next blow. "Grandpa!" Henry yells, causing Rumpelstiltskin to turn around. Henry sees an odd glint in his eyes before it disappears.

"Henry?" his grandpa asks, looking confused. Then, he turns and sees Moe. He looks down at the bloodied cane in his hands and then drops it, taking a step back. Then he slips to the floor as well, crying and shaking. Not sure what to do, Henry looks over at Moe. The man is just sitting there, staring in shock at his attacker. Henry pulls out his phone.

"Mom," he says when Emma picks up. "I think we have a problem."

* * *

Bae rushes into the flower shop to see his papa on the floor, rocking back and forth and sobbing much like he had done on the bed back home. Emma is over by Moe trying to figure out what's going on. Belle, who walked in beside him, looks torn between going to her sobbing true love or her beat up father. "He attacked me!" Moe accuses as Bae approaches his papa.

"It looked like he was in some sort of trance," Henry pipes up from the corner he's standing in. Bae hadn't noticed him when he walked in.

"Papa?" Bae questions as he painfully sits down next to the man who raised him. Then, he calmly pulls the sobbing man into his arms. "It's going to be okay," he assures him.

"No it's not!" comes the choked argument, just barely forced between the sobs. "I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen! I'm going to hurt everyone and there's nothing I can do to stop it!" Then he's sobbing uncontrollably. All Bae can do is hold him close. He looks up at Belle who looks just as lost as he is.

"Guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we can't have a guy walking around town and beating people up," Emma says.

"What are you saying?" Belle asks, sounding mortified. Bae is glaring at Emma angrily. If she is going to try to lock his papa up after everything that's happened to him, she's going to have to go through him.

"I'm just saying we have to come up with a solution," Emma says. "I don't care what it is, but he did tell Regina to lock him up earlier."

"After everything that's happened to him, you think we should put him in prison?" Bae asks angrily. "How would you like it if you went through hell and back and when you finally got home, everyone locked you up?"

"Look Bae, I'm just saying that if he wants to be locked up…"

"He's too out of it to know what he wants!" Bae argues back, shocking literally everyone in the room. He feels kind of bad, but he isn't about to let them take his papa away from him. His dad has been trying to protect him his whole life, and now it is Bae's turn. "After being captured by Zelena, the last thing he needs is to be behind bars. Trust me, I know." After all, he'd been captured by the witch too even if his papa had been able to shield him from almost everything that had happened.

"But we have to do something." If it had been Emma who said that, he probably would have gotten mad, but it was Belle. "He wants us to," she tells him gently. He understands. They have to do something, even if it is only for his papa's piece of mind.

"How about one of those magic blocking cuffs?" Henry suggests, making all the adults remember that he's still in the room. Henry shouldn't be here, not for something like this. He shouldn't have to see his grandpa attacking people and then breaking down crying. Then again, Bae shouldn't have to see any of that either.

"That could work," Belle agrees thoughtfully.

"No," Rumpelstiltskin states. He's been slowly calming down this whole time, and now he's finally stopped crying. Bae looks over at him and sees the red rimmed eyes that break his heart. "You have to lock me up," comes the plea.

"No," Bae argues back. "We don't have to lock you up. Everything is going to be okay." The cold, humorless laugh startles him. His papa pulls away from him, looking him in the eye.

"Things have never been okay," he states. If Bae's being honest with himself, then he's more than a little creeped out. But Bae did learn how to be a conman after all, and conmen are great at lying, even to themselves. "They are never going to be okay. Not unless you stop me, and the magic cuff is not going to cut it."

"Yes it is," Belle says with determination as she slides down on the other side of her true love. She moves to give him a hug but he pulls back so she settles for just sitting next to him. "I have faith in you. We can overcome this." But he's shaking his head no.

"Don't you get it?" he asks, sounding angry but Bae can tell it is just desperation in his voice. "All magic comes with a price, and the price for me taking the magic of the Dark One has yet to be paid."

"You're price was losing me," Bae argues firmly.

"No, that was fate intervening to try and help you," his papa argues. "To help you escape from the monster."

"You're no monster," Belle argues back.

"Yes I am!" Everyone in the room starts at that. Bae feels tears threatening to spill out. He's always hated it when his father was self-depreciating, and now he's doing it worse than he ever has before. "I am a monster! I am the beast in the dark, causing death and chaos until the hero comes and kills me. Only, I can't die! So they have to do the next best thing, lock me up." The tears do start spilling down his cheeks at the monologue. Bae looks over at Belle, but she looks lost as well.

"Maybe we should lock him up," Archie's unexpected voice comes from the door. Bae turns, about to argue. But then he sees the concerned look on the psychiatrist's face and realizes that Archie doesn't want this because he's afraid of the Dark One. He wants this because it seems to be the only thing that will calm Rumpelstiltskin down.

"Alright," he agrees softly, brokenly. Belle glances over at him in shock, looking like she's about to protest. Her true love interrupts.

"Thank you," he mutters. The relief is so palpable that it stops Belle in her tracks. She looks at Bae and they share an understanding look.

"Right, but how is a cell supposed to hold him?" Moe questions, obviously frightened by the man who just beat him up. As much as he wants to, Bae really can't hold it against him.

"Emma's parents know how," Rumpelstiltskin informs them. Bae frowns. He hasn't heard that one. He gives Belle a look, but apparently she's been kept out of the loop as well.

"I'll call them," Emma says, pulling out her phone. As she dials, Bae and Belle share another look. Sure both of them can see why this is necessary at the moment, but neither of them are willing to let it stay this way. Once his papa realizes he's not a threat to anyone, they're letting him back out. He claims to still have his curse, but Bae has yet to see him use any magic. His papa's just confused, traumatized. And once he gets a little better things can go back to a semblance of normal. They have to.

* * *

He looks up at the ceiling of his new cell in the dwarf mines, finally feeling calm. He can't hurt a single soul in here, not with the job the fairies have done. The only person who can be hurt now is him, but that's not really true because he's not really a person. It's arguable that he's never been a person, but no one can deny that he became less than human the minute he became the Dark One. He's a monster, and monsters deserve to be hurt. He feels sleep coming and tries to push it off, hold it back. Just because he deserves to be hurt doesn't mean he wants to be. But he can only fight sleep so long and soon the darkness claims him, just like it always has.

"Hello," the greeting comes. It makes him start and that causes the others to laugh. But the joke's on them, because he can't hurt anyone anymore.

"You failed," he tells them. They just laugh again.

"Why, because you're in prison?" they question. He frowns as they laugh, realizing that this doesn't faze them one bit. "All prisons are finite. You'll find a way out."

"Good always wins," he echoes the sentiment his grandson is fond of saying.

"So does evil," they inform him. "If there is always evil rising up to be defeated, when it rises it is defeating. Good and evil both always win, but what matters is which will win in the end. And that would be the one that is the most powerful, and right now that's evil. That's you."

"No," he shakes his head, backing away from the others. He tries desperately to hold onto the optimism of those he knows, but it slips away until he has nothing but dread. "Please don't make me hurt people," he pleads. They just laugh. One comes close and whispers in his ear.

"We aren't making you do anything," comes the evil whisper that causes tears to come. "Everything that's happened has been all you." And then the pain starts again. But he deserves it. After all, he's a monster.

* * *

Bae and Belle round a corner in the mines to see Rumpelstiltskin sitting on the bed in his cell, staring at his hands. "Papa?" Bae questions, watching as the man turns to face him.

"Hello Bae," he replies, getting up and coming toward the bars. Bae sees an odd flash in his father's eyes, but he ignores it, thinking it's probably the torch light.

"How are you doing?" he asks, coming closer to the bars himself. He can only imagine what being in a cage again must feel like. He knows that he would hate it, but it looks as though his father is managing alright.

"I could be better," his papa replies. Then a hand flies out and suddenly Bae finds himself choking. "In fact, I will be better once you're dead."

"Rumple!" Belle cries, but it appears that the Dark One can't hear his true love. It's either that or he's ignoring her.

"You've done nothing but hold me back," Rumpelstiltskin informs him as he dangles in the air, holding his papa's arms in a futile attempt to make the man let go. He'd never really realized how strong his small papa was until this moment. "You're the reason I broke my leg. You are what kept me from making deals too harsh; you were either there to get mad at me or not there at all, making me search for you. And now all you do is try to tell me to be a better man. Well, I'm not meant to be a better man! I am meant to be a better villain. I will be the best villain the world has ever seen, with you out of the way. Once you're gone, nothing can hold me back."

Bae is vaguely aware of Belle trying to make her true love let go, but it's all in vain. His head starts to spin from the lack of oxygen and he knows he's going to die soon. He looks into his papa's eyes as he struggles to make him let go and sees nothing but cold contempt. "He's your son!" Belle's desperate cry cuts through the fog his brain is in. All of a sudden, contempt is replaced with shock and he falls to the ground as his father lets go, stepping back away from the bars. Belle kneels next to him, calling his name but he continues to stare at his papa.

"Leave," Rumpelstiltskin orders quietly, causing Belle to turn and look at him as well. "Leave and don't come back." Bae can see the fear, the absolute dread is his papa's eyes. He tries to argue, but it hurts his throat too much. He hopes he recovers from this as quickly as Belle did so that he can argue with his stubborn papa more effectively.

"No!" Belle argues for him. "We won't…"

"Leave!" the Dark One interrupts with a yell. Belle helps him to his feet and they make their way back down the mines. There is no point in arguing at the present moment. His dad wouldn't listen if they did. Bae knows that his papa will cry as soon as he thinks they're out of earshot. He needs to fix this whole thing as soon as possible.


End file.
